The new Tony Towers: Blair buys £4million stately home after Cherie 'fell in love with it'

By SAM GREENHILL

Last updated at 22:14 04 May 2008

Tony Blair bought the £4million home because Cherie 'fell in love with it'

Tony and Cherie Blair have added a £4million stately home once owned by Sir John Gielgud to their property portfolio.

The seven-bedroom mansion in Buckinghamshire is a few miles from Chequers, the prime ministerial retreat the Blairs gave up to Gordon Brown when he took over at No 10.

Mrs Blair was said to have longed for another historic home in the same area.

A source said: "It ticked all of Cherie's boxes. She wanted a small stately home within a 20-mile radius of Chequers."

The Grade I listed South Pavilion, in Wotton Underwood, brings to six the number of properties the couple now own.

They have two houses in London, two flats in Bristol and Mr Blair's former constituency home in Durham.

The Blairs persuaded the owner of South Pavilion to sell to them before it went on the open market.

Effie Lecky, widow of Canadian discount airline boss John Lecky, who has lived there less than two years, said, "Who told you?", when asked if she had sold her house to the Blairs.

A source at the estate agent involved is understood to have confirmed the property was sold without being offered to the general public.

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Grade 1 listed: historic South Pavilion, complete with the magnificent weather vane tower, now the Blair's sixth home

South Pavilion is an imposing mansion built in 1704 with a magnificent domed weather vane tower, a 52ftlong double-height drawing room and stunning ornamental gardens.

Sir John kept his Oscar (awarded in 1981 for his role as Dudley Moore's butler in Arthur) on the bathroom windowsill when he lived there until his death in May 2000.

The only problem with it is lack of privacy. South Pavilion lies in the shadow of Wotton House stately home which opens its doors to the public in the summer months.

But Mrs Blair, who viewed South Pavilion for the first time last month, is said to have fallen in love with it straight away.

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The house has at least seven bedrooms and a 52ft-long double-height drawing room

Blair's new home sits in the grounds of Wotton House stately home, which opens its doors to the paying public in the summer months

Oscar owner: Sir John Gielgud at South Pavilion. He kept his Oscar in the dining room

Yesterday a spokesman for the Blairs refused to comment, saying: "It's a private matter."

Since he left office last June Mr Blair is estimated to have signed deals worth nearly £10million.

He won a £5million advance on his Downing Street memoirs, a £2.5mil-lion salary after being signed up by the U.S. investment bank J P Morgan, and £2million for an adviser's role with the finance firm Zurich.